An unprecedented Recruitment Exam had come to an end.
Countless nobles lost their fortunes gambling and were left penniless.
Of course, that wasn't the fault of the participants who lost the match.
A customer who threatened to break a horse's legs because he lost at the races was a total jerk, no matter how high his rank.
But when those total jerks make up the majority, it becomes public opinion.
"Has it calmed down?"
"No, sir. It's still noisy."
"Why?"
"Well, opinions are all over the place. Some customers lost a lot, some people are asking who the organizer is......."
"Tell them the organizer is the Third Princess. Her image can't get any worse anyway."
"The ones looking for the organizer are a minority. It seems there are more people raising hell to see the participants' faces."
Killing intent filled the chairman's eyes.
"They got in? Why let them in? Are you crazy? The Imperial Palace isn't a kids' playground. How can you take every complaint just because they had one bad day of business?"
"I'm sorry. There were former mages and warriors who tried to break down the door, so."
"What did the bastards who got in say?"
"Even so, the guests are all nobles, so talking about bastards......."
"I'm a noble and you're a noble, so what?"
The Recruitment Exam Management Committee chairman patted his subordinate's cheek.
He wasn't normally like this, but his nerves seemed to be frayed.
The subordinate quietly bowed his head.
"So why did those bastards come?"
"Well—"
"They want compensation because that Aicolman flattened the applicants, I suppose."
"There's a little of that too."
"Unbelievable. Just tell them to go ahead. You think that man will so much as blink if they go? They can't kill Aicolman anyway, so what's the point of going, honestly. Just because he got beaten by an applicant, does the Archmage look like a fucking pushover?"
The chairman let out a long sigh and looked down at the crowd outside the window.
He seemed to be in the thick of it.
"Ah, the opinion about Aicolman is a minority too."
"Then what's the majority?"
"One is parents who've gathered, saying they'll discipline their children lying in the church after being beaten by the Archmage."
"Tsk, tsk, discipline when the kid's been hurt."
It was the reaction of a noble who'd seen the shadow of Imperial-style education.
"Then the second?"
"This is the biggest one. The nobles want to see Adam."
"I knew it. Truly filthy people."
The chairman's disgust for nobles rose another notch.
It was a typical noble pride fight.
The mindset of: my child was eliminated, so I want to see just how great this applicant who beat the Archmage is.
If he's a pushover, kill him outright.
If he's extraordinary, secretly send an assassin to shut him up or somehow obstruct his rise.
"Those people are the majority?"
"Yes, sir. They've flocked here saying they want to see Adam quickly, that they'll ask about taking him as a disciple or signing a contract."
"Huh?"
"They're saying, let's just talk for now, and why are you hiding him, and public opinion is being shaken hard! In extreme cases they're even asking about adoption!"
"Adoption? Not assassination?"
"What assassination? At this rate, they'll storm the infirmary en masse. We need to request reinforcements and release a statement right away!"
A question mark floated above the flustered chairman's head.
***
Adam narrowed his eyes.
Judging by the light leaking through the stained glass, it was broad daylight.
When he looked around, applicants wrapped in bandages like defeated soldiers were lying on the altars of the church building, which were like stone beds.
About 80 percent of the applicants here were Aicolman's handiwork.
"Adam, you're awake? Bring me some water."
With a dumbfounded face, he turned his head slightly.
It was Aicolman.
"How am I supposed to bring it when I can't move? But, do you know how both of us are alive after fighting that hard?"
"It was a state-run match, so you were treated by the priests, and I must have recovered naturally."
"Recovered naturally? We fought like we were going to kill each other?"
"That's how it is for an Archmage who's transcended the stages."
It was a very rational answer.
Because it was an answer that made you give up on understanding it altogether.
Giving up on thinking, Adam rummaged through his pocket for mana stones.
It felt like looking for your vitamins in the morning.
"Huh?"
His hand, rummaging through his trouser pocket, grew frantic.
"My mana stones are gone."
"Are you serious?"
"It's not something I'd say as a joke."
"This is no ordinary situation, is it?"
Even Aicolman, who'd been resting calmly, was flustered.
If he blew up and killed dozens of noble children, he'd be confirmed as the world's worst terrorist the moment it happened.
TZZZZT!
Light flashed from the magic circle.
Fantastic timing.
A chill ran down his spine.
Adam checked the explosive sphere on the back of his hand.
But by a stroke of luck amid misfortune, the sphere wasn't glowing.
"A dud......."
Sure enough, now that I'm used to the magic, it's come under my control—
Drip. Drip.
But he couldn't just stand by like this.
"Do you have any mana stones?"
"Who in the world carries mana stones around?"
"Guards, come quick! You're about to have thirty more corpses in here!"
When he raised his voice, a commotion sounded outside.
Then a guard came running urgently.
Along with a black-haired girl.
"Kid, no outsiders allowed in here!"
"I'm telling you, I know someone!"
"And I'm telling you, you have to show a letter of recommendation!"
"He has it!"
The girl, grabbed by the scruff of her neck by the guard, acted like she knew Adam.
***
"I knew it was you!"
"?"
Adam turned his head toward the voice.
Rippling black hair and a wild, spirited face.
Anya, who distributed books to the Imperial Palace, had barged in holding a pouch of mana stones.
"I came after watching the match from the stands."
"Ah, yes. But why are you talking so casually?"
"We're not employer and employee anymore, so using polite speech feels like there's a wall between us. You talk comfortably too. We're not that far apart in age, so how about it?"
Along with the sudden question, the guard who'd come to the church with Anya asked.
"You there, do you really know this young lady?"
"It's hard to prove with words, so do you still have the Imperial letter of recommendation I gave you last time?"
Hearing that, he took the Imperial letter of recommendation he'd received after the escort job out of his bag and handed it to her.
Only then was the guard convinced.
"But why did you come here?"
Anya took out the pouch at the side of her belt.
Adam's eyes went wide.
Inside, it was full of mana stones glittering purple.
"Watching the match, the scale was insane. So I figured you'd need these."
"So you came here on purpose?"
Anya was a person more beautiful on the inside than on the outside.
"Yep! On the condition that I sell them at 1.2 times the current market price!"
"......."
I'll have to correct that.
She was a merchant to the bone.
"Are you buying or not?"
"I'm buying."
There was no room to maneuver right now, so he had no choice but to buy the mana stones.
And then he heard the results of the match.
Fortunately, he'd passed.
Aicolman and Adam both retired.
After that, Ether passed Adam in his stead.
But no one knew where Ether was.
He was a little worried, but they'd meet anyway, so he didn't mind.
"Ah, right. This."
"You even brought something like this while getting grabbed by the guard?"
"If I hadn't had this luggage, I wouldn't have gotten caught, so accept it gratefully."
Saying it was on the house, Anya handed him a congratulatory basket.
"Then I'll get going. I'm on my way back after leaving the exam betting slips with a junior."
"You were the one running the gambling den?"
"Yep."
Anya answered nonchalantly.
"I've been helping since about 5 years ago, and this year's reaction was the most dramatic."
"Because the Archmage took part?"
"To be exact, the news that the Archmage lost to an applicant spread through the capital, and people who want to adopt you came flocking."
"Adopt?"
The people in the beds next to him got up one by one and began sneaking glances at Adam.
"The ones trying to scout you like that are nothing but trash and idiots. Ones who'll lord it over you pretending to be parents, or ones who'll cut off your hand and stuff it for magic circle research."
Adam lay back down on the stone bed, drained.
"...So right now, people like that are out there looking for me?"
I'm going to lose my mind.
Adam let out a heavy sigh.
Even if you're loved, the moment you reject that love, it turns straight into hatred.
The world's gone completely insane.
I don't want some potbellied noble uncle obsessing over me.
"Everything's gone dark before my eyes."
"That's why I came here to roll up my sleeves!"
Saying that, Anya got up from her seat.
"Hm? All of a sudden?"
"Because I figured it'd be good to get close with the you of right now."
Right after Anya left, Aicolman told him about House Grave.
Families that supplied books to the Imperial Palace and ran the gambling dens fell into two kinds.
Ones who had long-standing ties to the Imperial Family and had carried on the family business for generations through connections.
Or ones who 'happened' to be the only one to show up on the day everyone else was absent from the auction for the business rights.
According to Aicolman, House Grave belonged to the latter.
"It's gotten quiet outside."
He looked out the window.
The noisy nobles had already vanished.
***
After about a month, the two unemployed men had completely adapted to church life.
Every evening they washed up, went down into the capital to eat delicious food, and slept comfortably to their hearts' content.
They enjoyed the top-grade service the church provided.
The only thick-skinned people shamelessly draining the church's finances were the two of them.
The shameless Archmage asked.
"You're getting discharged tomorrow, huh."
Aicolman peeled an apple and gave it to Adam.
"Never thought I'd get an apple from Aicolman, of all people."
"Consider it an honor. I've never even peeled fruit for the Emperor."
Aicolman chuckled as he peeled the apple.
"Tasty?"
"Sweet as honey."
"Heh, at first I said that since a grimoire chose you, you had to become a mage."
"A disaster, right? Even now I'm getting a Palace job because of it."
"At first it was a disaster."
Adam chewed on those words.
"But you had talent from the start."
Aicolman said as he handed over the apple.
"Didn't you say before that I had no talent?"
"No, talent for magic isn't such an intuitive concept to begin with. Just because someone's strong from a young age doesn't mean they were necessarily born with a general's talent."
"A glimpse of talent isn't simply something you can see. It's much vaguer."
"Then what is it?"
"Sense and luck."
He took the apple Aicolman handed him and put it in his mouth.
"Adam, become an Arcanist. And one last request: don't get involved with that damn gold digger."
Adam tilted his head.
Does he mean Ether?
Why, when she's such a good kid?
Come to think of it, I didn't see her even once while I was at the church.
Is she being treated at home?
Once I get into the Palace, I'll find the grimoire and thank her first.
While he was sorting out his thoughts.
Aicolman awkwardly took an envelope out of his coat.
"Adam, a gift."
Adam calmly tore open the gift.
Inside were black gloves of a rough material.
"When I was working as an adventurer in my mid-20s, I killed a Black Dragon, and these gloves were made from that dragon's scales. They can easily knock aside the blade of an average knight."
"No wonder."
"An Arcanist needs gloves, doesn't he?"
Adam bowed his head and expressed his thanks.
A small embroidery was stitched on the gloves.
'Adam Sanchez.'
***
The next day, the two left the church, discharged.
Aicolman walked back to the mansion.
Adam went to the Palace entrance and showed his letter of acceptance.
The guard who saw the letter withdrew his spear.
Then the barrier over the castle gate vanished, and a hole formed.
An unknown portal whose other side couldn't be seen.
Inside the hole spread a different landscape, not the Imperial Palace Adam knew.
Adam's jaw dropped.
The white tower he'd seen from the outside wasn't the Imperial Palace.
The real Imperial Palace, which only those connected to the Imperial Family could enter.
His eyes sparkling, Adam stepped into the real Imperial Palace.